" The kinds of activities he's supposed to undertake to make us better, to improve us." He did not go into details about what specifically displeased him about Linick's job performance.... You would have to ask Mike Pompeo.... They did ask me to do it, and I did it," Trump said....

Mitt Romney of Utah sharply criticized Trump's firings, while just a handful of other Republicans said the President needed to provide Congress with more of an explanation than his general statement from Friday night that he lost confidence in the department's top watchdog.... John Barrasso of Wyoming, a Foreign Relations Committee member and part of GOP leadership.... A senior State Department official previously confirmed to CNN that Pompeo recommended Linick be removed, but they did not kno